This invention relates to the filtration field, and more particularly, to an improved gravity feed filtration device for filtering blood and blood products.
There are commercially available gravity filtration devices for filtering blood and blood products. The currently available gravity feed blood filters are capable of filtering a single unit of blood. Furthermore, certain types of blood or blood products foul the currently available devices before a single unit of blood can be filtered.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a gravity feed filtration device capable of filtering any type of blood or blood product, and capable of filtering at least two units of blood.
The foregoing problems of the prior art are solved, and the objects of the present invention are achieved, by use of a filtration apparatus constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
In accordance with the present invention, the filtration apparatus for the gravity filtration of blood or blood products is divided into two independent filtration chambers. The apparatus contains a common inlet port that is in fluid flow communication with inlet ports of the two independent filtration chambers, and a common outlet port that is in fluid flow communication with outlet ports of the two independent filtration chambers. The apparatus also contains a means to automatically drain the upstream portion of both of the filtration chambers once the filtration process is complete.